Using a lithography system operating with wavelengths below 193 nm for imaging structures of below 130 nm resolution has been proposed. In fact, such lithography systems have been suggested for the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) range with wavelengths of λ=11 nm or λ=13 nm producing structures of below 100 nm. The resolution of a lithographic system is described by the following equation:RES=k1·λ/NAwhere k1 is a specific parameter of the lithographic process, λ is the wavelength of the incident light, and NA is the image-side numerical aperture of the system. For example, if one assumes a numerical aperture of 0.2, then the imaging of 50 nm structures with 13 nm radiation requires a process with k1=0.77. With k1=0.64, the imaging of 35 nm structures is possible with 11 nm radiation.
For imaging systems in the EUV region, substantially reflective systems with multilayer coatings are available as optical components. Preferably multilayers of Mo/Be are used as multilayer coating systems for systems operating at λ=11 nm, whereas Mo/Si systems are used for λ=13 mm. Since the reflectivity of the multilayer coatings is approximating 70%, it is desirable to use as few optical components as possible in e.g an EUV projection microlithography objective to achieve sufficient light intensity. Specifically, to achieve high light intensity and to allow for the correction of imaging errors, systems with six mirrors and a image side numerical aperture (NA)=0.20 have been used.
Six-mirror systems for microlithography have become known from the publications U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,728, EP 779,528 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,310. The projection lithography system according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,728 has a projection objective with six mirrors, where each of the reflective mirror surfaces has an aspherical form. The mirrors are arranged along a common optical axis in such a way that an obscuration-free light path is achieved. Since the projection objective known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,728 is used only for UV light with a wavelength of 100-300 nm, the mirrors of this projection objective have a very high asphericity of approximately ±50 μm as well as very large angles of incidence of approximately 38°. Even after reducing the image side aperture to NA=0.2, an asphericity of 25 μm from peak to peak remains, with a barely reduced angle of incidence. Such asphericities and angles of incidence are not practicable in the EUV region due to the high requirements for surface quality and reflectivity of the mirrors.
Another disadvantage of the objectives disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,728, which precludes their use with wavelengths below 100 nm such as the 11 nm and 13 nm wavelengths desirable for EUV microlithography, is the short distance between the wafer and the mirror arranged next to the wafer. In the case of U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,728, due to this short distance between the wafer and the mirror next to the wafer, the mirrors could be made only very thin. Due to the extreme layer stress in the multilayer systems discussed for 11 nm or 13 nm wavelengths, such thin mirrors are very unstable.
A projection objective with six mirrors for use in EUV lithography, particularly also for wavelengths of 13 nm and 11 nm, has become known from EP 779,528. This projection objective also has the disadvantage that at least two of the six mirrors have very high asphericities of 26 and 18.5 μm. However, even in the EP 779,528 arrangement, the optical free working distance between the mirror next to the wafer and the wafer itself is so small that either instabilities occur or the mechanical free working distance is negative.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a projection objective for lithography with short wavelengths, preferably smaller than 100 nm, which does not have the disadvantages of the state of the art described above.